Without Speaking
by ShadowDanseur
Summary: A series of short one shots that explores what our favorite duo is thinking during their more intimate, profound moments.
1. Mayhem on the Cross

**_Author's Note: This idea came to me after watching the last five or so minutes of Mayhem on the Cross. I just loved that whole scene, it was amazing. Anyway, these are short but there are going to be several. The idea is that I am going to write one for every moment I can find where our favorite couple shares an intimate moment together; not just any moment, but the really profound ones that are just ... amazing. Let me know what you think!_**

**_Disclaimer: Not mine._**

**_Spoilers: Possibly slight spoiler for Mayhem on the Cross. This little drabble thing takes place during that episode._**

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**_Booth's POV:_**

She's standing there, giving me that expectant look. She's waiting for me to say something, to share a story of my past, but I can't speak. For several seconds my breath is frozen in my lungs. All I can think is that those bastards locked her in a trunk for dropping a _dish._

I never would have said anything if it wasn't Bones asking. Those beautiful blue eyes, brimming with tears she fought to control, fixed so trustingly on me. I managed to say something about my grandfather saving me. As soon as I'm done I'm asking her if she's okay - I don't respond well to her pain. I have a very irrational response to any indication that Bones is in pain.

She's gazing at me as she puts my handkerchief back in my pocket. There are no words, but we are speaking volumes to each other_._


	2. Brennan

**_Author's Note: Here's the second installment! This one isn't set after a certain episode, it's just a general chapter. Hopefully it's not out of character for our favorite anthropologist. I believe that when Gordon Wyatt said that one of them was aware of the attraction and struggled with it, he meant Bones. So I thought I would play around with it a little. Hope everyone likes it._**

**_Spoilers: None._**

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**_Brennan's POV:_**

We get too close.

There's that line, the one that we swear was needlessly drawn. We deny that there is any need for a line to keep us separate, that we are fully capable of doing that ourselves. Truthfully, we flirt with that line; we toe it, dance around it, sometimes even see if we can push it a little. For a lack of a better phrase, we flirt with danger.

Like I said, we get too close.

Somehow, knowing that we get to close doesn't stop us from doing it. Repeatedly. In fact, it only makes it more exciting. Does that make us sick, and twisted? Maybe it does, but it's entirely possible that I don't care. I am not adept at connecting with living, breathing people; give me a skeleton and within a short period of time I can unravel almost the entire tapestry that was their life. Put a living, breathing human being in front of me and I just can't … there seems to be a disconnect somewhere. I just can't seem to make a connection with people. Perhaps that is why my connection with Booth is so hard for me to quantify; why, out of all the other people in the world, do I seem to connect so well with him?

Subconsciously, we have to know what we're doing. We have to know that this cannot be healthy. In fact, if it were anyway but Booth, I would have gotten tired of this antiquated dance and just made a move. But it was Booth: possibly the most important male figure in my life. Despite whatever I may feel, there's just too much risk involved. So instead, we dance around the subject.

Booth has this tendency to lean in real close when he's saying something important. When he really means what he says, he gazes into my eyes just so and I start to feel like I can't breathe …

The point is, one of these days we're going to be flirting with that line, and things are going to get blurry. We're going to be dancing around the elephant in the room, and one time we're going to crash right into it. Maybe Booth will lean too close while he's talking, and one of these times I'm just going to snap. "Temperance" may mean self - restraint and moderation, but I'm a genius, not a saint. Even I have a breaking point.


	3. Judas on a Pole

**_Author's Note: These obviously aren't arranged in any order. Sorry if that confuses some people. Anyway, here's another installment. Set during that *flipping amazing* scene at the end of Judas on a Pole. That is quite possibly my favorite episode ever. I could do a lot more with it, but these aren't meant to be really long. As always, reviews are always welcome!_**

**_Spoilers: Judas on a Pole_**

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**_Booth's POV:_**

Temperance Brennan breaks my heart.

When I asked Rebecca to marry me, and she said no, it killed me. I had never felt a pain like that before. I wanted to provide for her, for the child that we had made together. I loved her. She, however, did not feel the same. I had no idea how to deal with that, how to move on from that. The pain of that single event stayed with me long after I wished it gone.

When I met Bones, I thought she was impossible. I thought she enjoyed being difficult, insensitive even. Then, as we spent more time together, I came to see that she wasn't insensitive at all. In fact, she was more sensitive than she wanted people to know. She chose not to show those feelings, to shove her emotions into a dark corner of her heart. Even after I figured that out, however, I still couldn't understand why. Why would a person choose that for themselves?

Now, here we stand on the sidewalk outside the Diner, just the two of us on a street lined with people. Hearing her say that she wasn't meant to be a part of a family … hearing the pain echo dully in her voice breaks my heart in a way that Rebecca never could. Before me stands this breathtaking woman, this beautiful genius, and she thinks that she doesn't deserve a family. The tears gathering in those cerulean eyes is almost more than I can handle. The realization comes to me then; she did not choose this for herself, she merely learned to adapt. Her whole family abandoned her, and through that experience she came to believe that her thoughts and feelings didn't matter. That she didn't matter.

I hook a finger under her chin and tilt her face up to see mine. I give her the only verbal reassurance I can. We may not be the most orthodox family, but we are family. The two of us, the squints, we're our very own dysfunctional family. She's not alone anymore.

I gaze into that beautiful face. There is another reassurance I could offer her, another truth I could divulge. She's looking at me, the expression on her face for once raw and unguarded. I'm actually considering it; she almost looks like she expects it. There is one thing I have to come to know about Bones, however, and that is that she can't be rushed. This is one truth she's not ready for, not yet.

Zach knocks on the diner window, that ridiculous hat still on his head. The moment is broken, but the emotion still runs like an undercurrent between us. Bones isn't great with non verbal communication, but I'm pretty sure that, at least this time, she got my meaning.


	4. The Verdict in the Story

**_Author's Note: I could do so much with these! Ugh. There are just so many great moments with these two ...._**

**_Spoilers: The Verdict in the Story_**

**_Dedication: Here you go, sis, cause I love you. Nerds unite!_**

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**_Brennan's POV:_**

I should be in the courtroom. They are about to announce the outcome of my father's trial, and I know I should be in there to hear it. Although it pains me to admit it, even to myself, I just can't be in that room.

I am certain in the knowledge that my father killed that man. Booth and I spend so much time and effort into putting people like him behind bars - does that mean that I am betraying both of us by wanting my father to get out of the charges? I should stop thinking this way; I'm getting into the psychology aspect of the situation, and I hate psychology.

It almost feels like a betrayal, though. I can't shake the feeling. Am I undoing all of our good work by helping the jury find reasonable doubt? Rationally, I know that I have done nothing wrong. There was no perjury involved, no tampering with evidence; all I did was give them another plausible line of reasoning. So why do I feel so … confused?

I am aware of Booth's presence the moment he is behind me. I turn to see him coming slowly down the courtroom stairs, his eyes instantly finding and locking with mine. I have no words - all I can do is wrap my arms around him. I hope he can feel my gratitude for everything that he has done for me, for all the kind things he said about me in that courtroom. Never have I met someone more honorable, someone so openly warm and caring. I am not familiar with Rebecca, but I am comfortable saying that not marrying Seeley Booth was quite possibly the biggest mistake of her life.

I have no idea how long we stood there, wrapped in each other's embrace. We broke apart when Angela came out, and I embraced her as well. These two people, Angela and Booth, are probably the best friends I have ever had.

Zach, Cam and Hodgins emerge and head toward us. My breath catches in my throat as I prepare myself for any eventuality. Logically, I know that Angela was correct in her assumption that we would lose. My father is a murderer, and we all know it.

Then, against all hope, I see my father. Within moments he is hugging me and I am clinging to him unabashedly. My father is not going to prison. I may actually have a chance to get to know him. Over his shoulder, I can't take my eyes away from my partner. I cannot name the feeling swelling in my chest as I gaze at him. I know only that here, in this moment, everything feels right.


	5. The Girl With the Curl

**_Author's Note: I just love writing these. Just as a heads up, there will be little to no conversation in these little oneshots/drabbles. The whole point of these is to get an inside look at some of our duo's most intimate and personal thoughts. Just something to keep in mind._**

**_Spoilers: The Girl With the Curl_**

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**_Booth's POV:_**

A small part of me felt bad for not going with Cam. Then again, we are not in a relationship, and I just can't bring myself to leave Bones.

I'm leaning across the table toward her. I can see the light catching and reflecting out of those baby blue eyes and I am as one trapped. From this close proximity I can smell the sweet scent of her perfume, and she smells delicious. I can't explain away my attraction to this woman; it came as a surprise even to me. Bones is beautiful, without a doubt, but there's more to it than that. I know that, in many ways, she is fractured. Perhaps I should find it strange, then, that I find even those fractures beautiful.

We are so close to one another. We are not touching, but this moment is intimate. I don't experience moments like this with anyone else, and that means something to me. There are hidden truths in the vortex of her eyes, just waiting to be uncovered. I want to find those truths.

My lips are itching to press against hers. It wouldn't take much for me to lean forward and kiss her, and Lord knows I want to. The look she is giving me now makes me think that she might be open to the idea, maybe even like it. I do not imagine the sparks that fly between us, but maybe we're right to resist. Bones doesn't believe in love … not saying that I'm in love with Bones. We just have different beliefs, and I don't know if there is a way for us to bridge that gap. Still, I find her intoxicating.

I have to say something. I have to cut through the intensity building between us before we start down a path that neither of us are even ready to acknowledge exists yet. I am a patient man, and I have faith in Bones. She'll get there, and when she does, I'll be waiting.


	6. The Boy in a Bush

**_Author's Note: These are so fun to write. :) _**

**_Spoilers: The Boy in a Bush_**

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**_Brenna's POV:_**

I had no way of knowing ahead of time how close to home this case would hit.

I am normally the poster child for professionalism and detachment. I know this, pride myself on it even. I have seen many horrors in my life, and though it never fails to affect me I have become very adept at making it seem that way. This time, however, my emotion got away with me.

Booth had no way of knowing that I was a foster child. How would he, when I had never told him? That didn't stop me from being irritated with his treatment of the case. Hell, I was irritated with him. I have a soft spot for foster children, and I don't think that will ever change. Seeing Charlie … seeing the child's bones laid out on the table struck me in a way I had not anticipated.

Normally, I would never have asked to speak with Shawn. Seeing him in that interrogation room, small and terrified, I knew that I had no choice. None of these people could connect with him the way I could. For once, I was able to offer a connection that even Booth could not.

As I sat there with the young boy, telling him about the trash bag they give you, a strange thought crossed my mind. Booth would hear this, and then there would be no way for him not to know. Now, being a foster child is not exactly something I'm ashamed of, but it is a very intimate detail of my life. I don't just go blurting to people that I was in the system. I have made a good life for myself, and the last thing I need is pity.

I don't really think Booth would pity me, do I? Surely not; this was Booth, after all, one of the most understanding people I know. Then again, why do I care so much what he thinks of me? We're just partners. Maybe friends, but even that might be a stretch.

My concern is for Shawn and David. They should get to go home to Margaret and be a family again. They should get the chance I didn't. I know of only one way to get what Booth needs, while at the same time ensuring these boys get what they not only need, but deserve. I'll promise Shawn he can go home … I'm putting Booth in a terrible situation, but I'll get the information he wants. If I keep my end of the deal, Booth will keep his. He won't make me a liar; he wants to go to heaven.


	7. The Woman in the Garden

**_Author's Note: I really think that, for Booth, this episode is when he started to really care about Bones. I think she got under his armor more than he wanted to admit, and that his threatening the gang member leader really showed that._**

**_Spoilers: The Woman in the Garden_**

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**_Booth's POV:_**

I am going to kill this Mara Muerte son of a bitch.

He's pinned against the wall in front of me and all I can think about is how much I want to kill him. My finger is itching on the trigger of my gun. I could do it; pulling the trigger would be so easy. The world would be better off with one less gang member in it. All the people I killed as a sniper without ever knowing why they should die … I know why this man should die.

Putting a hit out on my partner was a bad idea. A very bad idea. I'm trying to tell myself that the anger I feel is just a result of my partner being threatened. I would be this angry no matter who my partner was … right?

If any harm comes to Brennan, if she is injured in any way, so help me God … I'll lose my mind. I will hunt down and kill every Mara Muerte member I can find. As if to reiterate the point, I shove the barrel of my gun down the man's throat. How dare this bastard. Did he think he could just put a hit out on her and get away with it? As if I would ever let that happen. I have no doubt that Brennan can take care of herself, but that's not the point. If nothing else, she is my partner, and I will protect her.

She'll never have to know about this. More than likely she'd be upset if she got wind of what I was doing, which is exactly why she'll never find out.

I mean what I say: I will not hesitate to put a bullet in this man's head. No one threatens Temperance Brennan and gets away with it.


	8. The Titan on the Tracks

**_Author's Note: Sorry this update took a little longer. _**

**_Spoilers: Titan on the Tracks._**

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**_Brennan's POV:_**

Standing at my mother's grave feels ridiculous.

My mother is dead, and nothing is going to change that. Nothing can come of my presence here; if it wasn't for Booth's insistence, I wouldn't be here at all. He says that coming here can be calming, therapeutic even. I have no idea why he thinks that way, but I guess my being here can't hurt anything.

I trust Booth. Despite the fact that we have differing views and opinions on most things, I know that he would never do anything to harm or mislead me. Hell, he's saved my life. In many ways, Booth is a very sensitive man. I truly believe that the only reason he brought me here is because he thinks it'll be good for me in some way.

At first, I have no words to share. Then, almost of their own volition, the words just start pouring out. I know that no answer will be forthcoming, but I can't seem to stop what I'm saying. Knowing that my mother is no longer missing makes her death a little easier to handle. I still don't understand why my parents left me, and she is still dead, but at least I know where she is. At least I know _something._

Well, I posed my questions to the dead and was not rewarded with an answer. Just like I knew I wouldn't be. Booth comes to stand next to me and as I lean down and put the flowers against my mother's headstone, a flash of light catches my eye. There, hidden in the grass, is a small silver dolphin. My scientist's instincts kick in and I pick it up with a latex glove and slip into an evidence bag. There is only one person who could have left it here.

Booth, it seems, has other ideas though. Moments later he's taking it out of the evidence bag and handing it back to me. I guess he has point; maybe it is evidence of something non criminal in nature. Despite whatever happened to my parents, and regardless of whether or not my father is a good man, I know one thing: my father loved my mother. Still does, even. That says something about him … doesn't it?


End file.
